As a respiratory therapist and as a sleep tech, I do not think I have ever seen a year with as many changes as this year has brought us.

We started the year on the right note. We knew that competitive bid was coming. Then came the issue of home sleep studies. Following closely on its heals was licensure and respiratory credentials for sleep technicians. And just when you thought we had enough curve balls to handle, the economy tanked and people could no longer afford their co-pays or lost their jobs and their insurance.

I have had many friends and know several labs that were affected by all this change. It is a lot to take in. Many people I know have ignored it or believe that it will not affect them.

As a whole, sleep does not have a strong advocacy group. We have the AAST but many people do not belong. We also have a large group of respiratory therapists who belong to the AARC, which has a much stronger voice.

You do not see state associations in and very few regional ones. I know living in Florida there are two regional associations but then it seems they are competing with each other for members.

We do have some great highlights though. We have several professional magazines, one really phenomenal message board, binarysleep.com, many people who are creating CEU and college programs to teach sleep in a formal setting, and many truly dynamic people who are bringing our profession to a whole new level.

I remember when respiratory was going through the same issues. There were many people who were trained via on the job training; we had credentials but we were not licensed. Those of us who got our AAS degrees were asked why. Why take the RRT? Why worry when we are needed?

I believed in the field of respiratory and was very passionate about it. And I encouraged people to get their credentials because eventually we would be licensed. When that day came, I lost several co-workers because they refused to take the test. I remember all of this and I see history repeating itself.

This is why I know that sleep will do well. Because history shows that these young medical fields are important and that as we grow and change we not only survive but thrive.

I challenge every tech out there to do something great for our field this year. If we work together, publish papers, create state societies, or help new technicians, we will be a strong and healthy profession.

With greater research going on we are finding new reasons why people are tired during the day.A research study was publish in the Chest magazine compared daytime sleepiness in snoring patients as it related to obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. The findings were not necessarily what were expected.

The conclusion was that snoring independently affects daytime sleepiness and was not related to sleep apnea.What does this mean?It can mean many things.It can mean that snoring itself needs to be taken seriously as it can cause an increase in the level of fatigue a person feels.When a person experiences increased fatigue the chances of a work related accident or car accident will happen.There is still the chance that the person has sleep apnea which has its own set of issues.And finally the feeling of well being overall is very important and the need for a good nights sleep is necessary.

If you find that you are snoring take an Epworth test.It will give you a good idea how tired you are and if you need to talk to your physician about sleep.

Sleep Disorder Screening Questionnaire

Please complete and return to your physician

Name:________________________________Date:_______

How likely are you to doze off or fall asleep in the following situations?

A study published in the European Respiratory Journal found that people with obstructive sleep apnea had an almost doubled risk of having to take long term or permanent health related disability leave.

As we become more aware of the problems associated with sleep it becomes more evident that if we do not take sleep seriously that we will continue to have health issues. We do nto take sleep seriously. As we grow older we consider snoring, fatigue, and waking several times during the night to be normal occurances. What we do not realize is that these are not only not normal but can contribute to an overall decrease in health.

As we become better educated about sleep it is becoming more obvious tha what we ignore will create long term issues. If you find that you are having issues with your sleep, talk to your primary care physician or call you local sleep laboratory they will be more then happy to help you find ways to get the rest you deserve.